Best Awkward New Kid

Orlando Cringe

Staff Pick

While there was no shortage of reading events this year, Orlando Cringe set itself apart from the herd based purely on content. Instead of readers delivering painstakingly crafted poetry and prose written by (mostly) level-headed adults, readers at Cringe pull their readings straight from the diaries of their younger selves. While the writing may not be on the level of a multilayered sonnet about Greek pottery, audiences do get to hear about middle-school crushes, draconian parents and the heartbreaking betrayals of supposed BFFs. And while Orlando Cringe does live up to its name, inducing shudders and groans of familiarity with the subject matter, the more uplifting aspect of it is that it reminds us that we were maybe not as alone in our "awkward stage" as we thought we were.